Georgia CommonsSB 554: Early Care and Learning; a grant program to expand access to child care and preschool programs; provide
Introduced version, the latest LegiScan holds · Last action February 25, 2026 · Introduced
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Underlined words are what the bill adds to current law and struck-through words are what it removes, as the printed bill shows them.
Senate Bill 554
By: Senators Payne of the 54th, Anavitarte of the 31st, Halpern of the 39th, Anderson of the 43rd, Hickman of the 4th and others
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
AN ACT
To amend Article 1 of Chapter 1A of Title 20 of the Official Code of Georgia Annotated, relating to general provisions regarding early care and learning, so as to provide for a grant program to expand access to child care and preschool programs; to provide that the Department of Early Care and Learning shall establish grant criteria; to provide for such department to establish grant amounts; to provide for grant purposes; to provide for a grant condition; to provide for technical assistance; to provide for the promulgation of rules and regulations; to provide for definitions; to provide legislative findings and purpose; to provide for related matters; to repeal conflicting laws; and for other purposes.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF GEORGIA:
SECTION 1.
Article 1 of Chapter 1A of Title 20 of the Official Code of Georgia Annotated, relating to general provisions regarding early care and learning, is amended by adding a new Code section to read as follows:
"20-1A-19.
(a) The General Assembly finds and declares that it is in the public interest that child care providers have access to capital for repairs, renovations, and expansion of their facilities, particularly in rural areas, to the maximum extent practicable to improve economic and social conditions. It is the purpose of this Code section, therefore, to provide grants to increase the capacity of child care facilities of this state, and it is the intention of the General Assembly that this Code section be liberally construed to carry out such purpose.
(b) As used in this Code section, the term:
(1) 'Program' means the Georgia Child Care Facilities Program established by this Code section.
(2) 'Rural county' means a county in this state that has a population of less than 50,000 according to the United States decennial census of 2020 or any future such census.
(c) No later than July 1, 2027, the department shall create and administer a grant program to be known as the Georgia Child Care Facilities Program for the establishment and expansion of facilities for child care learning centers and family child care learning homes licensed by the department.
(d)(1) The department shall establish criteria for the award of grants for the program, which shall be determined upon a competitive basis, and shall prioritize applications which demonstrate one or more of the following:
(A) Participation in Georgia's Childcare and Parent Services (CAPS) program;
(B) Participation in Georgia's Pre-K Program; or
(C) Meets two or more of the following criteria:
(i) The applicant is located in a rural county and demonstrates a need to expand access to licensed child care and preschool programs in such county by the ratio of children in licensed child care and preschool programs to the total number of children from six weeks to 13 years of age;
(ii) The applicant is located in a school district with low reading proficiency as demonstrated with a percentage of third grade students in such school district with a score of proficient learner or above on the most recent English Language Arts (ELA) milestones assessment lower than the state average for such assessment;
(iii) The applicant serves children from birth to five years of age in disability inclusive environments as defined by the department; or
(iv) The applicant participates in a federal nutrition program, including, without limitation, the Child and Adult Care Food Program authorized under 7 C.F.R. 226 or the Summer Food Service Program authorized under 7 C.F.R. 225.
(2) The department shall publish the application process and grant criteria on its website. (e)(1) Grants awarded pursuant to this Code section shall be subject to appropriations by the General Assembly or other available funding and shall be used to:
(A) Construct new child care learning centers or family child care learning homes;
(B) Retrofit, renovate, repair, or modernize existing child care learning centers or family child care learning homes in a manner that will result in increased capacity;
(C) Retrofit, renovate, repair, or modernize existing facilities for use as new child care learning centers or family child care learning homes; or
(D) Provide for nonrecurring costs to increase the utilization of existing licensed child care capacity.
(2) The department shall be authorized to establish the amounts associated with grants awarded pursuant to this Code section based on factors that include, without limitation, the scope of the project, regional costs, the provision of inclusive environments, or the need to meet licensing requirements or health and safety standards.
(f) As a condition of receipt of grant funds awarded pursuant to this Code section, the recipient shall enter into a contract with the department that provides the recipient will remain operational as a licensed child care learning center or licensed family child care learning home for at least five consecutive years after receipt of the initial grant award and may include a provision for repayment of grant funds if such condition is not met.
(g) The department shall make technical assistance available to grantees, including but not limited to, support for project development, business, licensing, operations, and coordination of funding sources. Such technical assistance may be provided by the department directly or by an organization funded by the department.
(h) A grantee that does not own the facility for which grant funds are requested shall maintain a lease, or other legally enforceable right of occupancy, with a minimum remaining term of five years as a condition of eligibility.
(i) In any given fiscal year, the department may allocate up to 25 percent of the total moneys available in the grant fund to be held in reserve for administration and technical assistance expenses associated with the program.
(j) The department shall promulgate rules and regulations necessary to implement this Code section."
SECTION 2.
All laws and parts of laws in conflict with this Act are repealed.